Portland Oregonian

Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)

August 19, 1997

YAMASAKI FINDS MULTISPORT TALENT CAN HAVE LIMITS 

Author:
JASON QUICK  of the Oregonian Staff 


 A summerlong tour of the nation's top basketball and volleyball camps  
provided Lindsey Yamasaki at least one revelation:

 It won't be as easy to be a two-sport star in college as it is at 
Oregon  City High School.
	
``I found it was hard making the transition from one sport to the 
other,''  Yamasaki said shortly after her hectic summer schedule ended. 
``Maybe that is  a sign telling me I have to focus on one sport in 
college.''

 It is just another decision Yamasaki will face as she enters her 
senior  year.

 Which sport will she play in college? Which college will she choose? 
When  will she decide?

 Yamasaki has some of the answers.

 She said she definitely will play basketball in college. She is widely  
considered one of the leading candidates for the national high school 
player  of the year.

 Yamasaki also is one of the nation's top volleyball recruits. She said 
it  would be tough to quit playing in college.

 She will choose a school before the November signing date, and she 
said she has trimmed a list of 25 schools to four. She would not reveal 
those schools.

 She also had said she was interested in Stanford, a statement she 
seems to  be backing away from now.

 ``There have been some allusions that she's locked into a certain 
school,  but there are four or five schools she's looking at that are 
legitimate in what they can do for her,'' Oregon City basketball coach Brad 
Smith said.

 Some schools were never in the running for Yamasaki. Some never tried. 
So  when coaches were allowed to make contact July 1, no more than 50 
called.

 ``The message was subtly sent that she had figured out her top four or 
five schools,'' Smith said. ``And for her, a lot of schools assumed she 
was going  one place, and others were not so sure which sport she was 
going to play, so I think they were giving her her space.

 ``If that wasn't the case, she would have been swamped.''

 Yamasaki, who has been home one week since June, said the recruiting 
crush  didn't live up to its reputation.

 ``I've talked to others, and they said it was so exhausting,'' 
Yamasaki  said. ``I imagined coming home and there being 20 coaches calling, 
and me  having to click over. But it hasn't been as bad as I thought; I 
thought it  would be more crazy.''

 Especially considering that Yamasaki was dominating national 
tournaments.  At the End of the Oregon Trail tournament in Oregon City, which 
featured some  of the nation's top teams, she was named the tournament's 
top player.

 She also said she played well at the Nike Elite Camp last week in  
Indianapolis, where Smith said players make their bid for national player 
of  the year.

 ``I thought I did well,'' Yamasaki said. ``I feel I have a shot (at 
player  of the year), but I'm not going to say I have it in the bag. But 
there are 10  top players who you can just tell are above the rest.''

 While her peers at the elite camps and tournaments were there to 
impress  recruiters, Yamasaki already had established herself as a blue-chip 
recruit in basketball and volleyball.

 She was the only high school girl to be invited last month to the USA 
World Basketball Team tryouts in Colorado Springs, Colo., and was one 
of a handful  of high school volleyball players invited to train with 
the USA National  team.

 She also traveled to basketball and volleyball tournaments in Las 
Vegas;  Sacramento, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Indianapolis; and St. Louis.

 ``I consider coming home as a vacation,'' Yamasaki said.